Sue Perkins to pen an episode of Banana
E4 has announced the cast and writers for Russell T Davies (Queer As Folk, Doctor Who) eight-part drama series Banana from RED Production Company.
Starring in the drama is, Hannah John-Kamen (Happy Valley), Letitia Wright (Top Boy), Georgia Henshaw (Waterloo Road), Andrew Hayden-Smith (Doctor Who) and comedian Bethany Black in her television debut.
They are joined by Cucumber regulars Freddie Fox (Parade’s End) and Fisayo Akinade (Fresh Meat).
The series is a companion piece to Channel 4’s Cucumber and online factual series Tofu, made by Benjamin Cook (Becoming YouTube). Each series will explore 21st century gay life in all it’s powerful, witty, dark and uplifting guises.
Young lesbian, Scotty pursues an unrequited love; 19 year old Dean has mysterious family secrets and a sexually charged liaison with the enigmatic Geordie Man; Sian struggles to choose between lover Violet and her over-protective mum Vanessa; and Helen who’s besieged by unwanted attention from an ex.
Davies has written three episodes, the remaining episodes will be written by comedian and presenter Sue Perkins (The Great British Bake Off), Matthew Barry and new writers Charlie Covell and Lee Warburton.
Russell T Davies comments: “The joy of Banana is in the beautiful, charming, witty and sometimes heart breaking stories of a wide variety of characters, be they gay, lesbian, transgender or anything in-between. The fact we have a bunch of brilliant and wildly talented young people in it, and making it, will give it even more bite and an exciting edge.”
The series is produced by Emily Feller and Matt Strevens, with directors; David Evans, Alice Troughton and Euros Lyn.
Banana starts filming in Manchester next week.
